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Monday, 19 October 2015

Spoiled little rich girl? Not Paris!

Whenever you read about Paris Hilton, she’s doing something glamorous that’s related to the world of fashion or retailing, or her latest love, being a DJ. Or she’s out on the town, partying with other celebrities. She’s someone we see living the life that most other women can only dream of. And there’s a tendency for people to think that because she’s Paris Hilton, descendant of the Hilton Hotels family empire, that she’s got it made, a life that’s a whirl of social occasions, and that none of her success is through her own hard work.

But there’s a different side to Paris. It’s true she could have chosen the lazy path, leaning back on the cushion of family money and spending her life going to charity lunches, but that’s not what she’s chosen to do. Ever since she first signed up with Donald Trump’s agency as a model at the age of 15, she’s worked for a living, even though there’s not been a real financial need.

And even now that she’s got a successful global brand around her name – with 45 Paris Hilton shops selling handbags, perfumes, shoes and watches in 40 different countries - she’s not resting on her laurels. Recently she became a new brand ambassador for bgo, the online gaming and gambling site. Through this role, it’s clear that Paris doesn’t take herself too seriously – in the TV ad she’s trying to get a position working for The Boss, bgo’s other celebrity ambassador, actor Troy Verner. But she might soon be taking over from him. Check out this bgo blogpost on which of the two is the bigger Boss, in terms of their working style, the people they know and the way they spend their free time.

Of course, Paris is only playing a caricature of herself in the bgo ads, but it’s clear she takes her own business very seriously. Not only has she built up her retail experiment into a multi-million dollar business, but she makes time for other work too. This summer, she’s been a resident DJ at Amnesia, one of Ibiza’s biggest clubs, and it’s rumoured she gets paid enormous amounts for every session.

In a Forbes interview last year, Paris made it clear that her business is not all about her, stating that part of her motivation for getting on with the job every day is the fact that she has created employment for other people and has teams of people working for her brand all over the world, who are now reliant on the brand’s success for their livelihoods.

Paris clearly has no plans to slow things down, even though she could legitimately do so on the back of her own success, and not because of family wealth. She’s talked about how she’ll develop what she does in the future when she settles down and has children, perhaps bringing out a children’s clothing range and books.

When you glimpse Paris in the fashion pages or on Instagram, you might assume she’s living the high life on the back of her family name, but the reality is quite different. She’s definitely the boss of her world.

Bio: Chloe Ashman is a freelance writer and mum of two from Yorkshire. When she's not following her passion for all things travel, she enjoys the odd game of bingo (when the kids let her!)